Teaching your dog a new trick is a great bonding experience for you and your pet. There is nothing more rewarding than the moment that your dog actually gets what you are trying to explain to them. Fetch is a great skill for your dog to learn. It is not only great exercise for your dog but your body will also reap some of the benefits of the game.
Paying Fetch With Your Dog
Fetch is a simple game to teach your dog because most of how they perform and how fast they learn has to do with how excited you are while you are teaching them. Your dog is going to notice your emotions if they see that you are having fun they will have fun and play along with you. It is important that you try to teach your dog any trick at an early stage in their lives. You will have a lot more luck training your dog if they are younger as opposed to older.
Your puppy is overly excited by nature. It is that fact that makes training a younger dog so much easier to train than a full-grown one. Fist you need to get your puppies favorite chew toy, just the processes of you picking up and taking interest in this toy will make your dog excited. Now that they are excited, they are ready to learn.
Training Your Dog
All you have to do is teach them to chase the toy when you throw it, retrieve it, bring it back and drop it in your hands. The first step is getting the dog to go after the toy, throw it but not too far away. Let the puppy run to it and sniff it for a second, once you see that they have the toy in their mouth call them back to you overly excited. The puppy will hopefully forget about the toy and leave it in their mouth when they run to you.
When the puppy returns to you be sure to praise them cheerfully. Step 2 involves having something in your hand like another toy that you can distract them with, and get them to drop the one in their mouth. Try to get your dog to drop the toy in your hand choose a simple command such as “drop or release” and when they do drop it when you tell them to give them a treat. Give your puppy a little break to enjoy its treat before starting the process all over.
Once you think that you puppy is getting the hang of it you can start throwing the toy a little further. Your puppy will respond better if you gradually throw it further away as opposed to one time close and the next time really really far. Your puppy wants to be close to you and sending them really far all at once may be too much for them. If they refuse to take the giant leap away from you than you are going to have to start all over again destroying progress that you may have already made.
It is possible that it could take your puppy a little while to get use to the game of fetch. Just be patient with them and learn with them. Fetch is meant to be a fun and relaxing activity for both of you. If you start losing your patience or give up completely you are going to create a stressful environment. Work with your puppy the same way that you would a child. Use positive reinforcement instead of negative. Your puppy will respond better to the positive. Have fun your puppy is only a baby once.